A Muscatine Journal reader sent this e-mail over the weekend:
Hi. There is a man by the name of … that got arrested (Friday) for the rape of my grandson. I want you guys to plaster his face all over the front page of the Journal!! I want everyone in town to know what this low-life psychopath has done this this baby. My grandson is only 18 months old and this guy was not “gentle” with him. He is sick and he needs to be seen by everyone in town to know who he is and what he did! My husband has been talking to DHS and nothing got done UNTIL this poor baby got hurt bad. This DHS system is ridiculous!
It was the first of four e-mails I have received from readers asking about this story. And it’s all over Facebook on a page created by a Muscatine High School student. There are several things about how this is being handled that give me reason to pause — things the Journal will not do. At the top of that list is naming the 18-month-old victim.
The Journal will follow up on this story. But we won’t be able to verify and report it until Tuesday at the earliest. Friday, you see, was a furlough day for many state and county employees. The Muscatine County Courthouse was locked and we didn’t have access to documents we need to confirm this story. And the courthouse is closed again today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
It’s frustrating to say the least. And I’m sure many readers will rip on the Journal for being too slow to report this story. But we will not report it until we can get the legal documents. Better safe than sorry on this kind of story. Being first is great, but I also want our reporting to be accurate and fair.
From the Web:
How dumb have we become when people have to be told how to throw ingredients into a pot to make soup?
Brome Hill 